NEED HELP AGAINST FRAUD - MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE -

[bluejays99]

Dear Forum,

I hope you can guide us in the right direction. I will describe below the best I can.

- A relative of mine has been bipolar for approx 2 years now ( lets call her Ruby, age = 23 years ) , Been on meds for the past year and still on meds today.
- For the last month, she has not been taking her meds regularly.
- 6 months back, a refugee living here in Canada approached her, showing interest in her.
- This refugee has been given a deportation letter already ( Before he met Ruby )
- The place where he works, the owner has appealed or baled him out to extend his stay.
- Ruby somehow gets attracted to this person and the friendship starts.

* Ruby does not get along well with all her siblings at home, due to her bipolar disease, she has her ups and downs.
* Last week, she runs away from home, and she and the refugee go and get married, so now they are legally husband and wife.
* Ruby also filed a complaint against her entire family, that they are against this marriage, and that the family was very upset.
* After the marriage, Ruby stayed with the Refugee for 2 days, but is now back at home living with Mom and family due to pressure to bring her back home, as she has mental issues.

*** Ruby's family does not agree with this marriage and is trying to convince Ruby, that she has fallen into a Marriage of Convenience trap, but Ruby is not accepting this.

*** Ruby says to family that she wants to be with him and that the Refugee is not using her, She says the Refugee said if he gets deported, you can come live with me back home in my native land.


*** Ruby's bipolar is very severe, she has made suicidal threats, and also threatened to harm her siblings + burn down the house, gets very aggressive in the house and at times would start hitting her siblings, at late night hours, Ruby would wander off deep into the Ravines by herself. ( I am just mentioning this behaviour to show this is not normal )



If you need more clarification, pls ask me freely.



But i am humbly asking the forum, is there anything our family can do to stop this predator from destroying Ruby's life and future.

 

[Rob_TO]

Ultimately it's up to CIC to determine if this is a marriage of convenience or not. Rest assured, a failed refugee claimant with a deportiation order in process suddenly meeting and then marrying a Canadian with a kind of disability all within 6 months, will be considered VERY suspicious, and the PR application will be scrutinized very closely. I imagine an interview will be certain.

As well, if you know she has submitted a PR application for him, you and your family can also write to CIC expressing your concerns. CIC does read these and take them into consideration.

But again at the end of the day, there isn't much you can do except hope CIC rejects the PR app if he is really just using her to get PR.

 

[scylla]

If you have concrete proof that fraud is being committed then you can contact CBSA to report it:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/protection/fraud/report.asp

 

[Leon]

He doesn't automatically get any rights just for getting married. She would have to sponsor him and in order to get those forms together, she would need a clear head which she probably doesn't have at this point unless he takes care of the forms and she just signs. Further, they would be asked for proof of their relationship, they would have to say how they met and fell in love etc. If he does manage to get PR based on her sponsorship, she would be financially responsible for him for 3 years but he has to live with her as husband and wife for at least 2 years after getting PR.

That said, I realize you are concerned about your relative but she is an adult and she has not been committed so there isn't much you can do. If her parents believe that she is a threat to herself or other people, they could try to get her committed and then at least she would be back on her medication and may look at things differently. Even if she applies to sponsor him, the processing time is long and she can cancel the sponsorship if she changes her mind.

 

[bluejays99]

Is there any legal method through lawyers that we can nullify the marriage?

 

[Leon]

Is there any legal method through lawyers that we can nullify the marriage?

You can not nullify other people's marriages. Your relative has to want to do it herself and even then, she may not be eligible for annulment. You can read about annulment here: http://www.canadiandivorcelaws.com/annulment/

Your steps if you want to do something would be to first talk to a lawyer about your options. It is possible if she is a danger to herself and others that you can get her committed for treatment. However, although being back on her medication may make her see things differently, it could also backfire and deteriorate the relationship with her family even further. She can not be kept in treatment forever and she will get out and go back to her husband if that is what she wants.

If she herself decides she wants to get out of this marriage, she can at any time separate from her husband and file for divorce, even if she is not eligible for annulment. It would take a year of separation before she can get divorce. She can at any time before her husband gets PR withdraw her application to sponsor him.

 

[bluejays99]

Ok noted, Thanks.


Which type of Lawyer should we work with?


1. Immigration Lawyer

2. Divorce Lawyer

3. Family Lawyers

4. Criminal Lawyer


Advise would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks Forum!

 

[scylla]

Start with a family lawyer.

 

[SenoritaBella]

Would a "poison pen" letter work? In this case, the family would be putting their concerns as stated by OP amd send to the visa officer? If she's not mentally 'competent' to make such decisions, is the marriage really valid in law?

If the family should do the 'poison pen' letter, Ruby will be able to see that such a letter was sent once she applies for her GCMS notes.

 

[Leon]

Would a "poison pen" letter work? In this case, the family would be putting their concerns as stated by OP amd send to the visa officer? If she's not mentally 'competent' to make such decisions, is the marriage really valid in law?

If the family should do the 'poison pen' letter, Ruby will be able to see that such a letter was sent once she applies for her GCMS notes.

A poison pen letter could get immigration to have a 2nd look at their case. However, it doesn't guarantee that they will be refused. Immigration is likely to scrutinize anyway because the guy is a failed refugee claimant who is about 5 minutes short of being deported and then suddenly finds true love and gets married. They will be doubly suspicious if it turns out they had a quick wedding with no family present.

As for her proposed mental illness, if she hasn't been committed or deemed incompetent, then she is in her full right to get married like everybody else. In order for her marriage to be annulled, she would probably have to be deemed incompetent and it would have to be shown that she was incompetent at the time she got married as well.